You might remember, back in January of this year, Sweden recognized file-sharing as an official religion. The Church of Kopimism believes that "kopyacting," the act of sharing information through copying, is akin to a religious service. They spent a year campaigning to have Kopimism officially recognized as a religion and in January the Church was finally registered as a religious organization by Kammarkollegiet, the Swedish Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency.
Today it emerged that Kopimism has landed on U.S. soil and though it has yet to seek recognition as a religion, the First United Church of Kopimism has registered as a non-profit with the state of Illinois. USNews cites Christopher Carmean, a 25-year-old student at the University of Chicago and head of the U.S. branch, as saying they are currently in the process of gaining federal recognition.
Kopimism was founded by a 19-year-old philosophy student by the name of Isak Gerson. The Church of Kopimism's principal belief is the right to file-share and its sacred symbols include CTRL+C and CTRL+V. To become a member of the church, one must (in some way) copy the Church of Kopimism symbol. Once you've done that, you can proudly call yourself a Kopimism. The Church of Kopimism now has a presence in 18 countries around the world.
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